c. An unbroken sequence or period of performances or presentations, as in the theater.

d. A successful sequence of actions, such as well-played shots or victories in a sport.

e. Music A rapid sequence of notes.

f. A series of unexpected and urgent demands, as by depositors or customers: a run on a bank.

12.

a. A sustained state or condition: a run of good luck.

b. A trend or tendency: the run of events.

13. The average type, group, or category: The broad run of voters want the candidate to win.

14. runsInformal Diarrhea. Often used with the.

adj.

1. Being in a melted or molten state: run butter; run gold.

2. Completely exhausted from running.

Phrasal Verbs:

run across

To find by chance; come upon.

run after

1. To pursue; chase.

2. To seek the company or attention of for purposes of courting: He finally became tired of running after her.

run against

1. To encounter unexpectedly; run into.

2. To work against; oppose: found public sentiment running against him.

run along

To go away; leave.

run away

1. To flee; escape.

2. To leave one's home, especially to elope.

3. To stampede.

run down

1. To stop because of lack of force or power: The alarm clock finally ran down.

2. To cause or allow (the time remaining in a sports contest) to elapse.

3. To make tired; cause to decline in vigor.

4.

a. To collide with and knock down: a pedestrian who was run down by a speeding motorist.

b. Nautical To collide with and cause to sink.

5. To chase and capture: Detectives ran down the suspects.

6. To trace the source of: The police ran down all possible leads in the case.

7. To disparage: Don't run her down; she is very talented.

8. To go over; review: run down a list once more.

9. Baseball To put a runner out after trapping him or her between two bases.

run in

1. To insert or include as something extra: ran in an illustration next to the first paragraph.

2. Printing To make a solid body of text without a paragraph or other break.

3. Slang To take into legal custody.

4. To pay a casual visit: We ran in for an hour.

run into

1. To meet or find by chance: ran into an old friend.

2. To encounter (something): ran into trouble.

3. To collide with.

4. To amount to: His net worth runs into seven figures.

run off

1. To print, duplicate, or copy: ran off 200 copies of the report.

2. To run away; elope.

3. To flow off; drain away.

4. To decide (a contest or competition) by a runoff.

5. To force or drive off (trespassers, for example).

run on

1. To keep going; continue.

2. To talk volubly, persistently, and usually inconsequentially: He is always running on about his tax problems.

3. To continue a text without a formal break.

run out

1. To become used up; be exhausted: Our supplies finally ran out.

2. To put out by force; compel to leave: We ran him out of town.

3. To become void, especially through the passage of time or an omission: an insurance policy that had run out.

4. To cause or allow (the time remaining in a sports contest) to elapse.

run over

1. To collide with, knock down, and often pass over: The car ran over a child.

2. To read or review quickly: run over a speech before giving it.

3. To flow over.

4. To go beyond a limit: The meeting ran over by 30 minutes.

run through

1. To pierce: The soldier was run through by a bayonet.

2. To use up quickly: She ran through all her money.

3. To rehearse quickly: Let's run through the first act again.

4. To go over the salient points or facts of: The crew ran through the preflight procedures. We ran through the witness's testimony before presenting it in court.

run up

To make or become greater or larger: ran up huge bills; run up the price of the company's stock.

run with

1. To keep company: runs with a wild crowd.

2. To take as one's own; adopt: "[He] was determined to run with the idea and go public before it had been researched"(Betty Cuniberti).

Idioms:

a run for (one's) money

Strong competition.

in the long run

In the final analysis or outcome.

in the short run

In the immediate future.

on the run

1.

a. In rapid retreat: guerrillas on the run after an ambush.

b. In hiding: fugitives on the run.

2. Hurrying busily from place to place: executives always on the run from New York to Los Angeles.

run a temperature/fever

To have a higher than normal body temperature.

run away with

1.

a. To make off with hurriedly.

b. To steal.

2. To be greater or bigger than others in (a performance, for example).

run foul/afoulof

1. To run into; collide with: a sloop that had run foul of the submerged reef.

2. To come into conflict with: a pickpocket who ran foul of the law.

run in place

To go through the movements of running without leaving one's original position.

run interference

To deal with problems or difficult matters for someone else.

run off at the mouth

To talk excessively or indiscreetly.

run off with

To capture or carry off: ran off with the state championship.

run (one's) eyes over

To look at or read in a cursory manner.

run out of

To exhaust the supply of: ran out of fuel.

run out of gas/steamSlang

1. To exhaust one's energy or enthusiasm.

2. To falter or come to a stop because of a lack of capital, support, or enthusiasm.

run out on

To abandon: has run out on the family.

run rings around

To be markedly superior to.

run scaredInformal

To become intimidated or frightened.

run short

To become scanty or insufficient in supply: Fuel oil ran short during the winter.

run short of

To use up so that a supply becomes insufficient or scanty: ran short of paper clips.

run to earth/ground

1. To pursue (a hunted animal) to its den or lair.

2. To search for and find (someone or something).

3. To investigate (something) fully, usually with success.

[Middle English ernen, runnen, from Old English rinnan, eornan, earnan, and from Old Norse rinna; see rei- in Indo-European roots.]

Our Living Language Traditional terms for "a small, fast-flowing stream" vary throughout the eastern United States especially and are enshrined in many place names. Speakers in the eastern part of the Lower North (including Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and southern Pennsylvania) use the word run. Speakers in the Hudson Valley and Catskills, the Dutch settlement areas of New York State, may call such a stream a kill. Brook has come to be used throughout the Northeast. Southerners refer to a branch, and throughout the rural northern United States the term is often crick, a variant of creek.

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